Companies face strategic trade-offs and contractual challenges in collaborative and competitive settings within the framework of institutional theory. Institutional theory focuses on the influence of formal and informal rules and norms that shape organizational behavior. This dissertation encompasses three distinct domains: co-creation in a multi-vendor setting, luxury e-commerce, and social media marketing. Drawing from the lens of institutional theory, the research explores how collaboration, competition, and isomorphism influence decision-making and outcomes in these domains. Each domain presents unique business problems, which are formulated into research questions, supported by relevant theories and literature, and addressed through analytical or empirical models. The findings from each chapter provide valuable managerial insights. In the first chapter, the focus is on collaborative value co-creation. The growing complexity of consulting, new product development, and information technology projects has led firms to increasingly adopt the strategy of collaborative value co-creation with their vendors. By analyzing the strategic interactions among a client, a primary vendor, and a potential secondary vendor, the research uncovers the trade-offs and dynamics that arise in these complex co-creation environments. Building on institutional theory, the study highlights how collaborative relationships in co-creation differ from traditional sourcing models. It reveals that the inclusion of a secondary vendor, even with lower efficiency, can be strategically beneficial for the client in certain scenarios. Conversely, there are situations where involving a more efficient second vendor may not be advantageous. These findings shed light on the institutional factors influencing decisions in collaborative environments. In the second chapter, I investigate the realm of luxury e-commerce and explore the pricing strategies adopted by luxury brands on multi-brand platforms. The study investigates the competition dynamics between luxury brands and e-commerce platforms.It addresses the optimal pricing strategies for luxury brands and examines whether allowing platform discounts aligns with institutional pressures. Luxury brands face a difficult trade-off between offering online discounts and maintaining their high-end brand image, which is often associated with price consistency across channels. On the other hand, e-commerce platforms struggle to assert control over pricing, which affects their ability to thrive in the market. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the research demonstrates that participating in platform discounts can be a viable strategy for luxury brands, even for high-valued products. Moreover, the analysis reveals the potential for pricing coordination across different channels. By considering market conditions and customer preferences, the study identifies factors that impact decision-making and profitability, contributing to the understanding of institutional influences in luxury e-commerce. In the third chapter, the research explores social media marketing in the context of the luxury fashion industry, focusing on the influence of isomorphism between competing brands. Grounded in institutional theory, the study employs machine learning techniques to analyze data from the social media platform of two prominent luxury brands. By examining content features and engagement rates, the research investigates the existence of isomorphic behavior among competing brands. The findings highlight similarities in content structures, approaches, and messaging strategies, indicative of isomorphism. However, the study also emphasizes the importance of differentiation in content strategy to create unique and distinctive brand identities. These insights offer valuable implications for firms seeking to enhance their social media marketing strategies within the institutional context. Overall, this dissertation integrates the perspectives of institutional theory across three interconnected chapters. By examining collaboration, competition, and isomorphism in co-creation, luxury e-commerce, and social media marketing, my research provides a comprehensive understanding of how institutional factors shape decision-making and outcomes in these domains. The findings contribute to the existing literature on institutional theory, offering practical insights for managers in navigating the complexities of collaborative and competitive environments, while aligning with prevailing institutional pressures. Additionally, the research opens avenues for future exploration into the interplay between institutions and strategic decision-making in various business contexts. / Business Administration/Marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to find what the drivers of prosumer innovativeness are and how prosumer innovativeness impacts value co-creation. To achieve this purpose, the study aimed to answer the following two research questions: “How does prosumer innovativeness impact value co-creation?” and “What drives prosumer innovativeness?” Method – Through the assessment of already existing literature, a conceptual model was created. The model consists of three different dimensions: intrinsic needs and motivations; individual innovativeness; and value co-creation. Intrinsic needs and motivations consist of the need for achievement, affiliation, power, and autonomy. Individual innovativeness is a unidimensional construct in the model. Value co-creation consists of six different dimensions: knowledge; equity; interaction; experience; personalization; and relationship. Hypotheses were developed to gauge the relationship between each construct in the model. Data was collected through a questionnaire which aimed to measure each construct in the model. A final sample size of 141 respondents was realized. The data was then screened and cleaned in Excel and IBM SPSS before being analyzed in SmartPLS. Results – The results showed that achievement, affiliation, and power are drivers of prosumer innovativeness. Furthermore, it was found that prosumer innovativeness positively affects value co-creation as there was a positive relationship between innovativeness and knowledge, interaction, experience, and relationship. Theoretical contribution – While previous literature has identified different motivations to prosumption, this study went a step further to gauge what the needs behind these motivations are. Hence, it can now be stated that prosumers’ motivations to innovative stems from their needs for achievement, affiliation, and power, as well as that prosumer innovativeness positively affects the co-creation of value. Managerial implications – Organizations should utilize prosumers who have a high need for achievement, affiliation, and power, and who have a personal interest in their product, organization, and industry when conducting innovation co-creation to best promote involvement in co-creation activities. If organizations make participation in innovation co-creation easily accessible, they may find that innovative prosumers who are actively looking for solutions to their problems may get involved without any direct incentive apart from the improved product or service and the personal satisfaction derived from the prosumption itself.

Assessment has become a dirty word in arts education, because art is notoriously difficult to assess. Assessment, which is often disliked or even disavowed by arts educators, due to its history of incompatibility with the idiosyncratic nature of arts learning, should ideally be utilized as a means of measuring student progress and help teachers understand how to help students succeed. While assessment can also be used to evaluate programs and teachers and to compare student successes relative to those of other students, I will be focusing on measuring individual student progress for my thesis and building a curriculum to support that. To measure student progress, I have utilized three tools: (1) a modified proficiency-based model for beginning students, (2) co-creation of curricula and assessment for intermediate students, and (3) a goals- based curriculum and assessment model for advanced students. This thesis study chronicles the journey of one art teacher and her high school students towards a more authentic means of utilizing assessment in a contemporary and engaging curriculum.

This dissertation uses service-dominant logic to understand customer value creation in service innovation context. Although co-creation became an interesting phenomenon among marketing scholars, the underlying mechanisms of co-creation process are still vague. To fill the gaps in the literature, we draw from S-D logic to understand antecedents and outcome of co-creation to service innovation context. The results of this study show that most of the hypotheses are supported, thus finding support for the overall model of value co-creation.

This doctoral dissertation examines the holistic health and wellbeing of a First Nation community to understand several factors relating to environmental racism and water contamination that support and hinder community health and wellbeing to inform future policy. This dissertation incorporates a mix of methodological approaches across three interrelated research studies to better understand the direct and indirect factors influencing water security and community health and wellbeing. Study 1 consists of a theoretical approach to co-creating knowledge between Indigenous collaborators and medical anthropologists. It highlights the importance of community-based participatory research in medical anthropology and frames the co-creation of a health survey through three phases as a boundary object that can create dialogical space for Indigenous and settler-scholar pedagogies and priorities. It demonstrates how CBPR and co-creation work allows for the reciprocal development of long-term partnerships that work in solidarity with the Two-Row Wampum (Kaswentha) treaty established by the Haudenosaunee Nation and European settler nations. Study 2 presents an analysis of household water access, quality, and use, specifically how E. coli and mercury contaminations of household tap water are related to reported household health conditions for a sample of 66 households (representing 226 individuals) living in Six Nations First Nation. Logistic regression models were built to identify possible associations with water use and treatment variables for mental health, eczema, and gastroenteritis, with a second model adding contaminants as predictor variables. In the second model, E. coli was found to be a significant predictor for the presence of mental health conditions within the household, and households primarily purchasing bulk bottled water were more likely to report mental health conditions. Those using bleach/chlorine to treat their tap water were more likely to report gastroenteritis. Reported tap water uses indicated that 57% of contaminated tap water was still being used for activities that may heighten exposure risks (such as washing produce). Investigating household tap water uses beyond drinking water demonstrates alternative pathways for contaminant exposures for Six Nations Peoples, who have deep cultural relationships with water. Study 3 contains a mixed methods approach to investigate the effects of water access, satisfaction, and experiences of water insecurity for the sample of 66 households in Six Nations of the Grand River First Nations, to inform culturally effective ways of assessing water insecurity for Indigenous Nations experiencing long term water shortages, contamination, and other water- related concerns. Water security was measured using the Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) scale and Likert-scale questions on water access at household, community, service, and environmental levels, and contextualized using interviews. Results demonstrate a high level of water insecurity in the sample of Six Nations households (57.5%, n=38); women were more dissatisfied with their drinking water (p=0.005), and younger participants were more likely to report contamination issues (p=0.02) and higher monthly water costs (p=0.03). Qualitative interviews informed these results, revealing that experiences of water insecurity and poor health were shaped by the degradation of traditional lands. This posed specific barriers for Six Nations women, who face physical and geographical barriers to household and community water access while caretaking for their communities and fulfilling their roles as water protectors. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The goal of this doctoral dissertation was to explore the connections between water security and health with Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, to explore the nuanced factors that inform perceptions of drinking water and better understand who in the community faces higher challenges and barriers throughout the water crisis. This project was co-created research using Indigenous Knowledge (IK) with medical anthropology approaches to understand water security, satisfaction, quality, and relationships as they relate to Haudenosaunee health. Water security was explored through tap and well water contamination tests, survey data, and interviews and focus groups. Water insecurity was reported for 57.5% of 66 households in this sample, with 21.2% having E. coli contamination in their tap water, 25.4% having mercury in their tap water exceeding provincial drinking water limits, and 77% of households relying primarily on bottled drinking water rather than their tap water. While water insecurity experiences were quite high in this study, Western metrics are not able to capture the crucial elements of Indigenous water relationships, such as community and cultural relationships with the land, environmental racism, and the consequences of environmental degradation, such as grief or poor mental health, relating to water and climate crisis. Water insecurity experiences are best understood as highly localized experiences that have mental health, physical health, and environmental consequences for Indigenous communities. To fully untangle the specific cultural, spiritual, racial, and colonial landscapes or structures that have shaped Six Nations experiences and perceptions of their local water, co-created and flexible place- based methodologies are needed.

No description available.

Humanity as for now is living in the future and sustainability issues are the daily challenges for the planet, and not a future problem any longer. The trend for sustainable development is pointing in the wrong direction and the pressure on natural resources is increasing. Research suggests stakeholders demand and reward responsibility from companies. The work for sustainable development requires extensive cooperation between companies, and people. Adopting a stakeholder perspective and meeting demands of various stakeholder groups means that companies today have even more relationships that they engage in than before. Companies rely on each other to be able to make an impact. An individual alone cannot make any changes but rather the society needs to act united to deal with these sustainable issues our world faces. Earlier studies emphasize that relationship marketing has the potential to assist sustainable efforts positively. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of relationship marketing in the sustainable development context, focusing on customers’ and the network’s view on sustainability. The theoretical framework is based on relationship marketing, co-creation and the key mediating variables of relationship marketing model and was inspired by both the empirical data and previous research. Further, to explain sustainable development, concepts such as stakeholder perspective and triple bottom line were used. To achieve the study’s purpose, empirical data was collected through conducting an inductive qualitative case study using non-probability sampling in the outdoor furniture industry. Data collected consists of field observations and semi-structured interviews. Data was processed and analyzed through transcription and coding. Findings imply strong relationships and cooperation are essential for effective sustainable efforts. The concept of sustainable development is diffuse and difficult to grasp. It was also implied that there is a disconnect in shared core values regarding sustainability between the business network and the market in this case study. However, theory suggests the role of relationship marketing is to push the narrative of sustainability, even if demand is low. Practical implications and recommendations suggest adopting co-creation processes to increase mutual learning and understanding of complex concepts such as sustainable development.

A sedentary life leads to numerous health problems, thus the need of constant motivation for a more active lifestyle. This paper presents a design process for a smartwatch app in its early stages while exploring and involving users in engaging activities. Potential users have been involved throughout the design process, in design experiments in order to co-create engaging physical activities. The key element “engaging” refers to physical activities as being fun, captivating, attractive. After an online questionnaire about physical activity and reasons for not being active, followed by an autoethnography on fitness apps, like Let’s Muv, Zombie, Run!, Coach5K, 7 min workout and Fitnet, three experiments were conducted. The experiments - interview, bodystorming, brainstorming - were performed with the focus on exploring engaging physical activities in a work environment, and therefore understand the effective features a smartwatch could have to motivate people to a more active lifestyle.

Customer-centric business approaches have been theorized over the last decades (Sheth, Sisodia and Sharma, 2000; Sheth, Sethia and Srinivas, 2011; Rajagopal, 2020). However, the active usage of customer input for a successful product portfolio strategy is widespread but not yet fully implemented (Cooper, Edgett and Kleinschmidt, 2002). The co-creation aspects of having two equal partners in performing the product portfolio structuring task is a key issue for managers (Rajagopal, 2020). The aim is to find how customer input can be used as an important influencing factor for the product portfolio strategy. This aim is achieved through an analysis of the most commonly used influencing factors and the expert's assessment of information gathering procedures and their categorisation, supported by the Edvardsson et al. (2012) framework. Furthermore, a framework by Voss (2012) is examined regarding customer integration into project portfolio management to investigated possible additions. As an appropriate method, an exploratory approach with a single case study and semi-structured interviews of experts of the field is selected. The primary data of this case study is compared with a structured literature review, which consists of the latest theories on customer integration into the product portfolio strategy. Four major results are found. First, product portfolio strategy is mainly driven by financial input and not yet by customer input. Second, customer input should be collected through multiple channels. Thirdly, customer input is assessed as being a useful factor for the product portfolio strategy. Fourths the execution of input gathering is currently performed more towards past performances than for future-oriented input as needs and wishes for the product portfolio structuring. Finally, managerial implications with a method is provided for the collection, storage, analysis and distribution of customer input. In conclusion, the implementation fidelity of the future related customer input is not yet performed but desired. The approach of input collection from customers is considered to be valuable, however a suitable method is needed. Furthermore, two new connections can be made for the structuring phase of Voss’s framework and avenues for future research of the customer input integration are presented. / Över de senaste årtiondena har det teoretiserats kring affärmodeller koncentrerade kring konsumenterna (Sheth, Sisodia och Sharma, 2000; Sheth, Sethia och Srinivas, 2011; Rajagopal, 2020). Idèn att använda konsumenternas åsikter för att utveckla strategier kring sortimentet är välkänd, men ännu inte helt implementerad (Cooper, Edgett and Kleinschmidt, 2002). Frågorna kring hur två affärspartners tillsammans ska strukturera sina sortiment är av stor vikt för chefer (Rajagopal, 2020). Målet är att undersöka hur konsumenternas feedback kan användas för att påverka strategin avseende sortimentet. Detta uppnås genom en analys av de vanligaste fallen där kunderna påverkat strategin, samt utlåtanden från experter om insamling av information. Vidare undersöks ett ramverk från Voss (2012) vars syfte är att involvera kunderna i utformningen av sortimentet. En fallstudie samt öppna intervjufrågor till experter inom ämnet lade grunden till detta. Den viktigaste datan från studien jämfördes med aktuella teorier kring integration av kunder i utvecklingen av sortimentet. Resultatet visade framför allt fyra tydliga samband. Det första var att strategier kring sortiment framför allt drivs av finansiella faktorer, och inte konsumentkritik. Det andra var att feedback från kunderna borde samlas in från flera olika kanaler. Det tredje var att kundernas kritik värderades högt i utformningen av sortimentet, och det fjärde var att insamlingen av kritik från kunderna ofta fokuserar på utvärdering av tidigare sortiment, istället för att ta in önskemål från kunder om ändringar av sortimentet. Slutligen tillhandahålls en metod för insamling, förvaring, analys och distribution av kundernas kritik. Sammanfattningsvis är exaktheten för insamling av framtidsorienterad kritik ännu inte bra nog, men värderad högt. Att jobba tillsammans med kunderna anses mer värdefullt, speciellt när en lämplig metod är tillgänglig. Dessutom kan två nya kopplingar göras för strukturen i Voss's ramverk, och tillvägagångssätt för framtida forskning på konsumentkritik presenteras.

Writing is a notoriously time-consuming and challenging activity that is difficult to avoid during the development of a game, and the steady increase in complexity behind producing games is putting pressure on the industry to cut unnecessary costs and streamline processes. With recent breakthroughs in Neural Network research the capabilities of causal language models like the GPT models made by OpenAI have reached a level where they could be used to assist with creative assignments that previously only could be done to an acceptable level of quality by a human writer. This paper aims to combine the power of a language model with the versatility and control of the Mixed-Initiative Co-Creation approach. In order to limit the scope of the artifact to a manageable size the focus will be to generate a shorter biography with backstory for characters and items in a level made in the Evolutionary Dungeon Designer by Alvarez et al. The artifact was evaluated with a user study in which both quantitative ratings and qualitative feedback was collected. The results suggest that the artifact has potential as it has the ability to generate compelling narratives and users attested that it had a positive effect on their work.